Geography Archives: Africa

  The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) organised on September 13-14 a two-day international trade union meet in the European Parliament complex in Strasbourg, France, to express solidarity with the fighting people of Arab countries and voice strong protest against the hegemonic interference of US imperialism and its European allies in the internal affairs […]

“Al Jazeera is a vital component to the USG’s strategy in communicating with the Arab world.” — Joseph E. LeBaron, U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, November 6, 2008 “Al Jazeera Board Chairman Hamed bin Thamer Al Thani has proven open to creative uses of Al Jazeera’s airwaves by the USG beyond straightforward interviews.” — Joseph E. […]

Democracy, democracy.  Don’t we just love it?  Don’t we love it as a pretence for furthering our international ambitions?  Don’t we love it when it means cheaper oil and cosy partnerships? In the case of Libya, the façade of supporting a democratic movement has fallen from even our most blatant sources of propaganda.  To quote […]

  “Chart with NATO sorties in #Libya shows that strikes continue with same ferocity as before the declared victory in Aug.” — Daniel Nouri Related: here is a map of sixteen cities that NATO attacked between Aug 22 and Sep 16: Daniel Nouri is a Python and JavaScript enthusiast with nine years of professional Python […]

  Is current U.S. foreign policy in Africa following a blueprint drawn up almost eight years ago by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, one of the most conservative think tanks in the world?  Although it seems odd that a Democratic administration would have anything in common with the extremists at Heritage, the convergence in policy and […]

  “Libya is something very different from what happened in Egypt and Tunisia.  It was not a pacific demonstration of people.  It was, from the very start, armed groups against other armed groups, the regime.  I’m not at all defending Gaddafi, but what is very specific of the case of Libya is that the so-called […]

  “These NGOs funded by the World Bank, Ford, and so on — why are they participating, mediating what public policy should be? . . .  The World Bank runs 600 anti-corruption programs just in places like Sub-Saharan Africa.  Why is the World Bank that interested in anti-corruption?  I looked at five of the major […]

  Michael Parenti: Expect the same thing as you saw happened in Yugoslavia and in Eastern Europe.  There will be a massive privatization taking place.  The public economy that the Gaddafi government had built over 40 years, which included public subsidies for housing, for education, for healthcare — all those things will be privatized.  The […]

  Syria remains relatively calm as efforts to destabilise its government through orchestrated attacks by rebels fail. Life in the Syrian capital, Damascus, seems to be continuing as normal.  The streets and the mosques are crowded after the devout break their Ramazan fast in the evening.  The security presence is minimal.  In fact, there are […]

  Excerpt: As envisioned by the Department of Defense (DOD), AFRICOM aims to promote U.S. strategic objectives and protect U.S. interests in the region by working with African states and regional organizations to help strengthen their defense capabilities so that they are better able to contribute to regional stability and security.  AFRICOM also has a […]

On Tuesday, June 14, the Guardian of London published “Left and Libertarian Right Cohabit in the Weird World of the Genocide Belittlers.”1  In this nearly 1,100-word commentary, the British writer George Monbiot attacked the two of us (among others) as “genocide deniers” and “revisionists” for our writings on the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.  Monbiot also […]

  With the hammer of NATO against the Gaddafi forces, Uncle Sam seeks to unlock Libya for the TNC(s). . . . Gervasio Umpiérrez is a cartoonist based in Montevideo, Uruguay.  This cartoon was published on his blog on 23 August 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  Cf. “Libya’s economic freedom score […]

  “The letter was signed by more than 200 prominent Africans, including ANC national executive member Jesse Duarte, political analyst Willie Esterhuyse of the University of Stellenbosch, former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils, lawyer Christine Qunta, former deputy foreign affairs minister Aziz Pahad, former minister in the presidency Essop Pahad, Sam Moyo of the African Institute […]

  Note that the African Union, bucking the imperialist pressures, refused to recognize the rebel Transitional National Council as the sole legitimate representative of Libya. — Ed. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 291st meeting held on 26 August 2011, at the level of the Heads of State and […]

Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Cf. “Speaking from outside Britain, a senior official told me that — after the fall of the Qaddafi regime — NATO air patrols and a no-fly zone would certainly have to remain in place as a deterrent […]

On March 9, 2011 Republicans at the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin approved Governor Scott Walker’s bill ending most collective bargaining rights for union-organized state employees.  The capitol had been occupied for over a month by unionists, students, and their supporters who were opposed to the bill.  This was the first mass labor upsurge of […]

It started in mid-July, when Dafni Leef, a Tel Aviv filmmaker, was met with a hike in her rent that she couldn’t afford to pay.  Instead of moving to a new apartment, she moved to a tent on Rothschild Boulevard, the city’s sleekest thoroughfare, and set up a Facebook event calling for her compatriots to […]

In April 2010 I found myself in Montreal for an academic conference.  It was my first time there, and as I am wont to do in such a new place, I looked up used bookstores and otherwise roamed around the city.  In one such English-language bookstore in the city center I asked the owner if […]

  12th August 2011 The British Consul-General The British Consulate Riebeeck Street, CAPE TOWN Cc: All Media Houses Dear Sir, We, the leadership and members of the following organisations the SACP, ANC, COSATU, SANCO, ANCYL, YCL, ANCWL, MJC and PASOP and all democrats and peace loving peoples of the African continent, demand that you convey […]

Two of my favorite quotes come into play here, one by the English poet, Alexander Pope, who explained that “some people will never learn anything . . . because they understand everything too soon,” and George Bernard Shaw, much more resigned and ironic in stating that “we learn from experience that men never learn anything […]